Noon Hour Splash and Dash. Strangely for a week where the kids are off school due to Easter - Spring Break the pool was empty. 6 lane swimmers and 3 double lanes. Might be because they did a Back wash of the Filters and all that water gets Dumped so they then add water which means the Pool was nice and cold. Perfect for me.
So I took advantage and did a Sprint Triathlon Timed Training swim - just to establish an early season base line. 30 lengths - 750m in ~18 minutes. Did not have a stop watch so was just using the clock at the side of the pool. Then did another 10 Crawl to get a clean 1km and added 500m of breast stroke.

whatta crap swim. My leg cramps are coming in sooner and I can't even do the distance I easily was completing a month ago. I have reached out to my physician but am not at all confident that I'll get help from the health co-op. Sorry to be a whiner.

I got back in the pool this morning after a month hiatus. It was slow but I wasn't expecting much. Plus the pool was crowded. But let's see... 400 warm up, 200 pull, 200 breast, 200 kick, 100 back and 300 freestyle/cool down. I think it was about 40 minutes start to finish but I stopped to chat with a few people who asked where I had been. It wasn't until the last 200 yards that I felt like I was in any kind of groove at all.

All in all, it was good to be back.

NoelFigart1 wrote: »

@nuffer are you stretching before you swim? What about hydration? And, maybe a dumb question, but do you get enough potassium in your diet?

Cramps are definitely awful. I get them sometimes during long swims. (And as a former ballerina, I take no *kitten* from my calves, either!)

Stretching daily is totally the way to go.

(I did swim today. Crap swim. Clumsy and slow 1500 41:55)

Yes I do stretching, have tried a bunch of variations. Maybe I'm not doing them right? I hydrate a lot before a pool session, usually at least a quart on top of all the water I drink during the day. Have been stopping to drink during the swim as well. I tried magnesium supplements but considering potassium now as a banana is not helping. Otherwise I think I'm getting plenty of potassium from all the salads and veggies in my meals. (those are not always logged)

Have stopped trying to do flip turns and am pushing off the wall as gently as I can and still have my watch start a new lap.

Sorry again to whine, it's just so frustrating to have the endurance to go farther and faster but it's impossible when everything below the knees feels like it's trying to become a pretzel.

4 miles yesterday and today.

1 miles @ 78 minutes

and for cramps = HYDRATION HYDRATION HYDRATION

nuffer wrote: »

whatta crap swim. My leg cramps are coming in sooner and I can't even do the distance I easily was completing a month ago. I have reached out to my physician but am not at all confident that I'll get help from the health co-op. Sorry to be a whiner.

Sorry to hear you've been saddled with cramps. I used to get frequently them too. I realized later that it was the footwear I was wearing. I had this new pair of shoes that had a bit of a turned up toe (not elf-like, but enough). It was putting my toes in the wrong position for walking and then was not using them to push off properly when walking which led to weakness of the muscles and they were also always on a bit of a stretch. It translated to major cramps in the pool. Check your footwear situation. Even too much of a heel can do it.

I'm also wondering if you've changed your workouts? Were you adding more distance or speed lately? That possibly could do it - electrolyte balance stuff so Gatorade and banana might help. Also hypoxia workouts where you're not breathing as much can lead to cramping. I'm assuming you don't have something called spinal stenosis - that would do it too, but you'd get also cramping with all upright activities such as walking.

If your doctor clears you of all problems it might be worth your effort to get some Myofascial Release or ART done (physio/sports therapist) who can help work out some underlying knots in the muscle that are just waiting to jump up and grab you and ruin your workouts. That combined with calf/foot strengthening and mega stretching every day might do the trick for you.

Best of luck.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. This is a fantastic group. Swimmers are the best.

I did 65 minutes without stopping and no cramps at all. Felt some coming on toward the end but they never fully developed.

I drank a lot of water prior to jumping in ... probably 2.5 liters before hitting the pool. Also did extensive stretching. And had a banana. Too many variables to say which worked, or maybe it was a combination, but very happy to have a pain-free session.

Forgot to wear my Garmin watch but based on the fact that I felt fast, it was probably slow

fishgutzy wrote: »

Was about to leave to got to the YMCA for my swim before work when a loud von came from outside. Rare early morning thunder. That meant the pool would be closed for at least a half hour, aiming it did not thunder again.
So it will be an evening swim today.

I hate when they close the pool for weather. It is VERY rare to have t-storms around here and I think they are hyper-safe about shutting down the pool when there's a little rumble out there. But because it's so infrequent, maybe once or twice a summer, it's not that bad.

Hope you got your miles in. I had a productive session tonight (2550 in an hour) and am closing back in on the pace I had a couple of months ago.

[quote="nuffer;35995708"

Hope you got your miles in. I had a productive session tonight (2550 in an hour) and am closing back in on the pace I had a couple of months ago.[/quote]

I just remembered something else that may help you with calf and toe cramps. My daughter was a national level synchronized swimmer for many years. Having toe and calf cramps is a serious problem for synchro swimmers, since half the time they are upside down holding their breath and pointing their toes. The way the coaches manage cramping is by super strengthening and conditioning for the lower leg. They literally do HUNDREDS and hundreds of heel raises every day, both on flat and on edges of steps. They do lots of toe walking and also a lot of plyometric work on their toes. Then of course they stretch and stretch.

So you may want to consider doing a little dry land strengthening to help prevent the problem, if you aren't doing this already.

Glad you are getting back to your former swimming self.